This is my attempt to chronicle our family's daily adventures, love, and struggles.
It is my hope that one day Adri and Sammy will read these stories of their childhood and remember the love, happiness, and adoration that was poured into it each and every day. The two of them are the sunshine in my day and the happiness that has completed my life.
Quote
“Live so that when your children think of fairness and integrity, they think of you.” ~ H. Jackson Brown
“While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about.” ~ Unknown
Sam finally did it! He crawled with his belly off the ground on his hands and knees! He's been wounded soldier crawling for the past week or so, but it seems that today he finally got the hang of it! There's no stopping him now! :)
While I am extremely excited about this new stage, I think it also makes me a little sad. My baby boy is 8.5 months old now and growing up way too quickly! I want him to stay that cuddly little baby, I miss the cuddly stage where he couldn't get close enough to me and could sleep on my chest forever! He's so busy exploring everything lately that he can't even stop to cuddle with his Mama for a few minutes anymore. If he decides to hold off on the walking experience for awhile I promise not to complain!
Adri is pretty excited that he was crawling, she cheered him on and then figured out he was her new playmate, able to make it anywhere and do anything now.
Here's a video of Sam Man and Adri's dinosaur on Christmas...He LOVES to talk with it. I know this video is totally random, I just love how he interacts with the dinosaur. :)
Today was Sam's first time doing a taste test at Innovative Consumer Research. If you don't know about the company and you have children in the range of 0-24 months, you should! Your child can taste test food and for your half hour (or less) of time, you walk out with a $20.00 Meijer gift card. It's a pretty sweet deal, especially if you have a child that LOVES to eat like Sam Man. :) (I have referral cards, if anyone is interested.)
So, Sam man not only tasted the samples, he grunted and screamed to eat ALL of both of them plus the crackers in between. I was a little surprised that he even ate it since he spits pureed foods out at me when we're at home. Only real food for him! The kid loves to eat and I'm not really sure where he's putting all of it since he's not looking like he's getting excessively large. He then ate roast, carrots, corn, and potatoes for dinner as well as cookies afterward and wanted more! My guess is that he is going to be a BIG boy. ;)
Sam also decided that today was the day he would begin paying back his sister. He army crawled all the way across the living room to punch her in the eye while she was laying on the floor. By the time he was done Adri was begging me to make Sam leave her alone. I've been telling her that she's going to be sorry when Sam gets bigger and can get around. Today was the day he proved that to her. I think she's going to be a little nicer to him from this day forward. :)
It is 9 am and lucky little Sam Man has gone back to bed for a morning nap. Adri, in the meantime is in maniac mode. She has been running around the house begging for a sucker (because apparently she NEEDS sugar this early in the morning and doesn't already have enough energy) and getting into everything. If I had half of the energy she does, I would be one happy and productive girl. :)
I attempted to get Adri dressed today. She was about halfway dressed (meaning she had her pants on) when she decided she had to put on some tutus. After putting on three tutus she informed me that she's a princess. She then ran away from me screaming that I can't touch her because she's a princess and you can't touch princesses. Apparently she has yet to meet the Queen of the house. :)
My goal for today is to get to Meijer to do a little grocery shopping so I can make dinner tonight (then to come home and clean the house). I'm not sure if that's actually going to happen, that might be wishful thinking at this point. (Although thinking of all the work that is going to go in to just getting the two of them out of the house makes me really not want to go!) I'm actually wishing for warmer weather right now, I think cabin fever is hitting home for me...
Tonight:
Goals accomplished, but not before I was ready to rip my hair out from the screaming of two children the entire shopping trip and coffee pick-up afterward. I think the workers at Biggby Coffee think I am absolutely insane. It seems that whenever I go through the drive-thru I have two children screaming in the backseat and I'm all wild eyed and crazy begging for the largest coffee with an extra shot of caffeine and trying fulfill my need for adult conversation over the kids in the background. They usually try to get me out of there as quickly as possible, and I don't blame them! :)
So, after our wonderful shopping trip, I made salmon for dinner (of which BOTH kids ate!) and plan to make roast tomorrow. I was also able to get the ENTIRE house cleaned, which feels fantastic. Both kids are in bed re-energizing for tomorrow. Let's hope for a good day!
The holidays have come and gone very quickly. We had a wonderful time with our families, although it is going to take at least the next week for all of us to get back on a normal schedule.
The kids received far too many presents, from everyone. We are all very thankful for them. Santa only brought them 6 each, although next year I think they will only be getting 3 each. Too many presents not only takes away from the meaning of Christmas, but I feel like it doesn't teach them to appreciate the quality instead of the quantity. I know I sound really cheap right now, but as I'm writing this neither of my children are playing with any of the toys they received for Christmas. Go figure.
Matt took our Christmas tree down yesterday. That poor tree has been through a lot in it's short visit to our house (falling down, forgetting to water it, Sam picking needles off of it). We were so ready to have the space back for kids toys. :) (And I was one of those Mom's who said that the kids would only be able to have their toys in their rooms because I didn't want toys everywhere. I even tried to reinforce it when Adri was younger. Yeah-look at my living room now!)
Sam Man decided yesterday would be another big day. He learned how to do "so big" in response to us saying it to him. An exciting accomplishment in parent-land. :) He's also right on the verge of crawling. When I say right on the verge, I mean that he is starting to get up on his knees and take a couple of crawls before deciding to fall back down and roll to make his life easier. :) It's all about easy in his life.
Sam has now had his helmet for a few weeks and we are able to notice a considerable difference in his head shape and flat spot. We're so excited about this and can't wait to see the final result!
We received Sam's decals for his helmet yesterday. Thank you Mom and Jim!!! They are AWESOME! I decorated it with "Chicks Dig This" and have to laugh every time I look at him now.
When I took the helmet off yesterday he actually cried and kept trying to grab it back. He really doesn't like having it off now! Perhaps it's because he bangs his head on everything when it is off. :)
Here's a few pics of Adri decorating her Gingerbread Tree. I'm not sure how much of it was decorated and how much was eaten.
Today we went to open gym at a nearby gymnastics place. Adri absolutely loves going here because she can spend two whole hours running, jumping, and acting crazy without worrying about getting into trouble. I love it because when we get home I know she will take the most amazing nap. :)
Today Sam got in on the action when I sat on the trampoline with him and helped him bounce up and down while he belly giggled at me. Adri was, of course, on the trampoline right next to us, helping us bounce up and down and screaming "look at me Sam, look at me!" (Okay, so maybe he wasn't laughing at me after all.) He also really enjoyed practicing his standing skills next to the balance beam. He fell a few times, in which his helmet really came in handy. I'm thinking the extra protection on his noggin can only benefit him while he's learning about his crazy new world.
Adri decided that today would be the day she was going to be a big girl again.
Back story: she has greatly regressed since Sam was born; using a pacifier again, drinking milk from her sippy cup, and not wanting to potty train. I know that I am the adult, and supposed to be the one in charge, but it's hard to say no when she's so emotional and I know that these things (minus the diaper) will help to soothe her. I also know that soon she will let go of them and be a big girl, which brings me back to today.
Adri: Mommy, my tummy hurts right here (pointing to her left side).
Me: Really? Why?
Adri: Because I have to go poo.
Me: Really? Um, ok. (Thinking she was going to do the usual routine of going and hiding and then screaming to tell me that she was pooping and hiding.)
Adri: I think I have to go poop on the big girl potty.
Me: (dropping what I was doing, snatching her up and running to the bathroom to pull off her pants and diaper and put her on the potty as fast I could) Yay! Let's go! Mommy will be so proud of you if you go poo poo on the potty!!!
Adri: Mommy, I'm going to do it!
And yes, she did it! Success!!!
Adri: Mommy, are you so proud of me?
Me: I am, I am! You're such a big girl!
Adri: Now I want to bring my horse upstairs. (The big Radio Flyer bouncy horse that takes up a ton of room and has springs that squeak so loud that you can't even turn the tv up louder than the sound of the springs and Adri's yee-haw's).
Here's an example of the source of my new headaches, for your viewing pleasure:
And yes, she does still scream Weeee, but has now added a Yee-Haw to the maniacal riding. And, lucky me, she can ride this horse for hours without getting tired! She proved it to me just last night.
Me: Great...(Darn it, she remembered the bribe from two months ago!)
Adri: And I want a sucker, and I want gum. All of it. I want to hold it, I want to hold all of the gum.
Me: Ok, I did promise you that. (Even though each bribe was given on different days)
Adri: And I want to wear big girl underwear.
Me: Really? No diaper, no pull ups?
Adri: No. Big girl underwear. (As she's pulling them up).
Me: Ok, then.
So, Adri stays in her big girl undies all day. I even let her wear them to the open gym, thinking the worst she could do is pee in them, since she had already gone number two earlier. I guess all of the exercise helped loosen things up in her tummy, because even after I asked her a million times if she needed to go to the bathroom while playing, she came up to me and told me she needed me to change her poo poo. Yup, she had pooped in her big girl underwear. GRRRRR! I really dislike changing diapers, but what I hate even more is changing underwear with poop in them. Needless to say, I dry heaved the entire time I was cleaning her, and then I put a diaper back on her before changing her clothes (thank you Jill for giving me the heads up about bringing them!) and sending her out to finish playing. Big girl undies are going to only be worn at home for a while, at least until we get the hang of this poo poo thing. :)
Today we decided to go to Rivertown Mall to burn a little energy. I have to admit that I was a little embarrassed of Sam Man's helmet when we first got it. I am now getting to the point where I don't even notice it anymore though. In fact, I think he looks a little odd without it. :) Sam is getting so used to it that he now hits his head on everything when it's off and then cries because he didn't realize he could hurt his head. Well, our visit to the mall ended up with us spending most of the time in the children's tree house area, playing with the other kids and Adri running around like a maniac (which she desperately needed).
I have noticed that a lot of people either stare, give dirty looks, or give us the "pity look" because they don't understand what the helmet is for and are too embarrassed to ask. We walked through the mall; enduring these looks and comments that people thought we didn't hear. Some people actually asked what the helmet was for, while another person stopped us to tell us how her niece had been in one for a year after being born without a soft spot and having cranial surgery. (I have to admit, talking to this woman about the helmet and feeling like we had something in common felt wonderful.) We're lucky, Sam wasn't born with any actual handicaps, and doesn't need surgery. The helmet is not a big deal (although I miss kissing Sam's sweet little head!). Sure, it looks funny, and you don't see every child wearing it, but it's not a reason to be ignorant. I've found that I would much rather have people ask and me be able to discuss it with them than have them just stare or pity us. Really, of all the childhood illnesses and problems he could have had, this is so insignificant and non existent! I like to joke and say that it's for his safety when he's playing with his sister, which we've actually found to be true. ;)
When we went to the playground, I let Sam practice standing against the small animals. He was so happy and actually shouted in glee over this. A lot of little kids came over and played with him, looked at him, and asked about his helmet. One little girl came over to play (she was probably about 2 or 3) and talk to Sam when her father actually yelled at her to "get away from him", like Sam was diseased. He said it with total disgust in his voice. I looked over at him surprised, but was unable to think of anything to respond with quick enough. At first I was mad, but after thinking about the incident I actually feel bad for the little girl. We are the role models for our children. If you don't discuss the things children don't understand and yell at them for being curious, you're only teaching them ignorance; which isn't fair to the child.
In other news, Sam Man decided he's not going to crawl. He's desperate to learn how to walk/run to get away from Adri. When we got home I heard Adri say "Mama! He's standing!!!". I had no idea who "he" could be, so I asked her. She said "Sam, Mama! Sam's standing!". All I could think was "no way! Please don't let him already be standing, he hasn't even started crawling yet!" Sure enough, I walked into the living room and he had pulled himself up on his toy box to see what he could find in there. Great...
A few pictures of the kids eating their holiday cookies they decorated at a friends house last weekend.
We had quite the day in our house today. It began quietly, with Adri waking up in a good mood and requesting deli ham and a slice of cheese for breakfast (don't even ask--I was just happy she wasn't begging for her sugar fix of cookies and then melting down because she can't have them--of course, I gave her the ham and cheese; at 8 am.) After finishing her breakfast, she then decided it was time to bounce around on her bouncy ball, because how else would you get around the house at 8 am when you're brother is sleeping? She bounced all through the house, screaming in delight. When she decided to bounce into the dining room from the living room, she went past the tree, which then proceeded to topple down, narrowly missing her. Glass ornaments shattered everywhere as Adri stood there ready to cry. She was pretty confused about what had happened. Now, I can't say for sure that Adri bouncing within inches of the tree was what knocked it over, but I'll take a wild guess that that had something to do with it. As far as Adri knows though, it just fell over and some of the ornaments broke. We were able to salvage some, but we lost a lot of our favorites.
A before photo of our tree:
An after photo:
After finally getting Adri to sit down for a minute so I could vacuum up the glass, Sam Man decided he was ready to start his day. (Thank goodness he wakes up in a good mood, I don't think I could have handled much more.) Last night was the first night he slept with his helmet. He slept the whole night without fussing once, and then wore the helmet the entire day without it being taken off. He's a trooper!
A few pictures of our day... :)
A subdued Adri after the tree fell and she calmed down...
Happy Sam Man...(Now if this photo doesn't make you smile, nothing will)
Well, the flu has now hit everyone in our house this week, me included. We're crossing our fingers that this is the end to it.
Today was a big (sick) day in our house with both Matt and I not feeling well. We decided to have a "movie night" to just relax with the kids. Adri absolutely LOVES movie nights and begs to have them every week, so this was a special treat for her. We rented Santa Paws (one of the worst movies I have ever seen!), which kept Adri quiet for a little while because there were special "talking" dogs. The acting was horrible, but there was a 5 or 6 year old little girl who stuck out that looks very much like Adri. It's fun (and scary!) to think of what Adri will be like when she is that age.
Here's a little idea of what movie night looks like in our house (we usually haul out all the blankets and pillows that we can find, but neglected to do that tonight).
Sam decided today was going to be his big day. He began sitting up all on his own! He's been sitting up for awhile, if we sit him up. Today was the first time he actually sat himself up all on his own though. All it took was one time before he began doing it permanently. He is also very very close to crawling, if he could just figure out how to get his leg out from under him when he switches from a sitting position. I've decided that if he decides he doesn't want to begin crawling until he's one, I won't be disappointed. The longer he's immobile the easier it is for us. :)
Sam LOVES his helmet! He never protests when we've put it on and has even slept in it for naps. We have noticed that it gets very sweaty after a little wear (it's a good thing he doesn't have to wear it during the summer!), and his hair is completely wet. I'm a little nervous about that when we bring him outdoors.
Our house is FULL of sick, so don't visit if you aren't being forced to do so. Our bout with sickness began last Sunday when Adri began screaming on our shopping trip to Meijer.
Adri (in her highest screaming voice): Mommy! Mommy! My tummy do hurt!!! Me: Where does it hurt? Adri: My tummy do hurt! It hurts, it hurts, it hurts! Oweeeeeeee! (Uncontrollable sobbing) Me (panicking at this point thinking it might be her appendix): We're leaving, we're leaving baby. Hang on! Adri: Owww!!! (at which point she began projectile vomiting all over herself, the cart, the items in the cart, the floor, and the shelves. I have to admit, the girl has great aim!)
I hightailed it to the front of the store to let an employee know that there was ALOT of vomit to clean up in aisle 11. :) Then I wrapped Adri in a large black Meijer bag and carried her out (all the while everyone was staring at us), careful to take another bag to put on her car seat so she wouldn't get vomit all over it. By the time we got home I was covered in vomit, Adri was freezing from me stripping her clothes off her in the car, and I had found out that Matt lost his wedding ring (which has yet to be found). All of this made for a wonderful end to our Sunday. :)
We were lucky enough to get through all of Monday without anyone getting sick (although Adri's new thing is to keep telling everyone she is sick because it gets her extra attention.). Yesterday though, Sam Man began throwing up at dinner and continued until he went to sleep. Poor little baby has never been sick, so he was extremely confused and wanted his Mommy. I felt so bad for him every time he vomited; looking at me with that sad, confused look in his eyes. He woke up this morning happy and ready to face the day though. He was starving and ate an entire large jar of food along with 12 oz of formula, making up for what he missed yesterday.
Last night Matt began complaining that he had a fever and was freezing. Today he is sicker than sick, and stayed in bed the entire day. As the day progressed he has actually gotten worse, so we will see what tomorrow brings. We're hoping that it's the same 24 hour type of bug that both of the kids had and that he will feel better tomorrow (and also that I'm not the next one to get it). :)
And now for our good news! Sam got his helmet today! He did wonderful when the helmet was first put on him, smiling the entire time. When our orthotist brought the helmet back in after specializing it, he put it back on a sleeping Sam man who never woke up the entire time. Surprisingly, Sam doesn't mind it a bit!
Sam will be wearing it intermittently for the first week, beginning today. Day 1: Two 1-hour time periods Day 2: Three 2-hour time periods Day 3: Three 4-hour time periods Day 4: Two 6-hour time periods Day 5: 8 hours during the day and attempt nighttime use Day 6: 8 hours during the day and all night Day 7: 23 hours a day and beyond
Adri decided to get in on the photo action this morning too (because you know she can't be left out). She hammed it up for the camera and loved on her Sam Man...
Below are some of Sam's beginning head photos for comparison in the future. He'll be getting his helmet next week, so we will hopefully start seeing results in the next couple of weeks. I took these photos this morning alone, so they aren't that great. I think I might do a few more with his hair wet tomorrow (so we can get a better idea of the shape) and Matt holding him.
Sam will be receiving his helmet early next week. They are shipping it out tomorrow and it takes a couple of days after shipment to receive it. We can't wait! Not only will he have the coolest helmet with the most awesome designs, but we can't wait to get his therapy started! Each week that ticks by we're losing precious time as his head grows and could be reshaped instead of just growing more flat.
Sammy has been a cranky bear these past few days. I believe he's teething, although the third tooth hasn't poked through yet. He's decided that he's a big boy now though, and will no longer take a bottle. He rips it out of his mouth and pushed it back toward me all the while giving me dirty looks. How's that for trying to give Mama a clue? He spent a lot of time sleeping today, so perhaps he's also going through a growth spurt, which seems to be the norm with him this past month. The only thing that seems to make him happy lately is to take a bath with Adri and spend the entire time splashing her all the while giggling uncontrollably, which is turn makes Adri splash him back and water to splash everywhere. After bath time I think I end up more wet than both of the kids!
Adri played outside for the first snowfall of the year. Luckily Daddy took her so I didn't have to go out and freeze. I like the snow, but only when I get to enjoy it from the comfort of the inside of my home. :) Sammy and I rocked together at the window and enjoyed watching Adri and Daddy play. I wish I had gotten pictures, she looked ridiculous stuffing herself into her baby sled. I'm thinking it's time for a new big girl sled for her.
Tomorrow we're planning a packed day of Christmas shopping with Nana and then visiting the reindeer at the Plainfield library. I will be sure to bring my camera for that!
